Why Lack of Sleep Has a Deleterious Effect on the Brain

1 in 3 US adults don’t get enough sleep, which affects their health and cognition. Credit: Getty Images.

Dr. Itzhak Fried is a neurosurgeon at UCLA and Tel Aviv University. Along with colleagues, he recently discovered the neural underpinnings of sleep deprivation. The team also showed how such deficiencies lead to cognitive lapses. The authors describe their findings in a new paper published in the journal Nature Medicine. Dr. Fried and his team found that neurons literally can’t function properly when we lack sleep. “This leads to cognitive lapses in how we perceive and react to the world around us,” he said.

The study began with 12 patients who all suffer intractable epilepsy. Each patient was undergoing depth electrode monitoring. This is where a small hole is drilled into the skull and an electrode is placed inside. This is to determine where the seizures are emanating from, with the hope of correcting the issue through surgery.